TriHards declare “No More Mr/Miss/Mrs/Ms Nice Person*!”

18 September 2008

18 September 2008

TriHards declare “No More Mr/Miss/Mrs/Ms Nice Person*!”

After a very successful outing in the Canberra Times Fun Run, the hard men of the TriHards have declared “No More Mr Nice Guy!” Heads suitably swelled from achieving their lofty objective of actually finishing the gruelling 10,000m run through the centre of Canberra, despite the occasional downpour, strong winds and lack of coffee at the start, in under an hour. Now they truly would be a force to be reckoned with. Now, in the middle of the pack, they could be considered serious contenders!

The months of hard training had paid off; all those afternoons spent running right past MacDonalds and KFC, resisting temptation and continuing on around the trolley-infested Lake Tuggeranong on their extended training run had proved beneficial on the day.

The TriHards had registered in the event early, gaining the bib numbers of 17 and 18 (working under the belief that if they couldn’t be in the top 20 finishers, at least they could be in the top 20 bib numbers!) They showed up on the day sporting the new TriHards t-shirts, looking cool, fit and ready for action.

Sunday, 14 September was a day of ups and downs, starting with grey cloud filling the sky, threatening rain at any moment; and indeed shortly before the race, the team had to take hasty shelter in the adventure truck to ride out a short, hard downpour, before heading to wet pack at the start of the race, eager to get underway and test their speed and stamina.

At approximately 9:45a.m. the pack moved out slowly. The wise TriHards elected to warm up with a brisk walk until everyone moved off; the start plates sounding like a machine-gun with the beeping of RFID chips running over. As the pack began to spread, the boys picked up their pace, getting so carried away they ran straight through a red light at the intersection of Yamba Drive and Wisdom Street. Thankfully that location didn’t have a red light or speed camera.

The team was working to a plan, and all was going according to that plan. They reached the one kilometre mark in approximately 5:48, despite having to navigate through crowds - their target of finishing in under an hour would only be achieved by consistently running each kilometre in just under six minutes. They maintained the pace up Adelaide Avenue, as the pack began to thin somewhat, past the two and three kilometre marks.

The first drink station was within the fourth kilometre, which, combined with the congestion of the race, slowed the boys down somewhat, giving them a time of just over six minutes.

Around the six kilometre mark the pace and distance was beginning to tell and, for a break, the team began to run backwards - the theory being that if you’re facing the other way, it’s downhill in front of you.

The sky cleared and the heat from the sun was well and truly reflecting from the road as the duo headed down into State Circle. The heat bore down on them, and headwinds pushed into them as they began the steep climb up State Circle to Kings Avenue. The strain was starting to show as the boys felt the pain of the climb, but on and on they want, like mighty machines, climbing the incline and turning on to Kings Avenue.

From here, it was all downhill to the finish line. The plan called for starting a strong run at the bridge, however the day (and carrying the extra weight of all that water dumped by the heavens) was taking it’s toll on the mighty TriHards, so they continued their reasonable pace across the bridge, and began the arduous task of dodging walkers armed with umbrellas. Mr GPS was feeling at home in the crowd, as the race changed from a more boring, sedate run, into a navigational challenge.

At the nine-kilometre mark, Chris left his wingman, and made a bolt for the line in a desperate bid to get over the line before the race time passed an hour. Mr GPS was left in the pack, politely asking all of the slower movers to allow him to pass, a task, no doubt, made more difficult by all the spectators observing and admiring his new t-shirt!

And their goal was achieved, with both completing the race within an hour, Chris at 57:30 and Mr GPS at 58:15.

* We apologise for leaving any group out!

Achievements of the day:

Finishing the race - 10,000,000 mm in under an hour!

Passing some stroller-runners (this was not due to swapping babies with bricks).